Doctors expect to save leg of man with flesh-eating bacteria

  

(7/21/07 - HOUSTON) -- Doctors expect they'll be able to save the leg of a 58-year-old Nacogdoches man who was infected by flesh-eating bacteria during a swim off the coast of Galveston County, his wife said.

Steve Gilpatrick was infected with a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus after swimming during a July 8 fishing trip. The infection quickly developed into necrotizing fasciitis, a potentially fatal tissue-destroying disease.

Gilpatrick, a diabetic, had an ulcer that he thought was nearly healed on his lower leg when he went swimming. The bacterium entered through the wound, infecting his bloodstream.

He had three surgeries at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston to remove infected tissue, but doctors feared they might have to amputate his leg.

Now they think they can save it, said his wife, Linda Gilpatrick.

Steve Gilpatrick remains in critical but stable condition. He is still not communicating.

"I'm just hoping that, within the next day or two, I'll be able to get him to talk to me at least for a minute," Linda Gilpatrick said. "That's something I've missed."

Vibrio vulnificus, in the same family as the bacterium that causes cholera, lives in saltwater and thrives during warm summer months, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It can enter the body through an open cut or sore, but infections are rare and usually affect only people with weakened immune systems, such as those with diabetes or chronic liver disease.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•